The Dark Side

…for me, anyway. With all the stuff I have going on it looks like I’m going to call it a season. I haven’t heard of anyone talking about getting some final days in at Abasin; the talk has mostly turned to bikes. I set a modest personal record this year, 33 days! Here is Hot Robbie dead sailoring off a cornice at Loveland on 4/20.

I am not a black and white only kind of guy. And the site is looking a little drab, so I thought I’d add a splash of color today. This is an old photo that I resurrected for the portfolio. This is a small beach in Marblehead, MA.

An inside-out landscape picture is a lot easier to imagine than an outside-in picture.

Faithful readers will recall the Geometry show where I had a photograph showing a couple months back. That photo, ‘Draw of the Bridge’, was then selected out of the show to go show somewhere else. I don’t really even know where it is at this point! Which is besides the point, which is that I applied for another show at the same gallery last week and got 2 photos selected. The show is called Landscape From the Outside In. I have no idea what the title even means. I’m going to have to go to the show to find out. Basically, the gallery wanted ‘alternative’ landscapes, something different than the pretty flowers and mountains and fall colors that we see all too much here in Colorado. So I submitted 8 black and white photos of landscapes that are a bit different from normal. I’ll be posting some of the ones that didn’t get picked first. I sent 2 of the airplane shots below. The photo in today’s post came very close to making the final cut of 45 photos (out of over 300), but lost out in the end. I think the show opens two weeks from today at the Flash Gallery in the Belmar area of Lakewood, but I’ll verify the date later.

This photo was taken in Napa over Easter. I noticed this gnarly old vineyard, and it stood out in constrast from the thousands of acres of meticulously manicured vineyards that surround the area. I also like the texture of the uncut, sunlit grass blades.

I just signed up at the Boulder Digital Arts Website.  “Boulder Digital Arts is a community resource for digital artists and creative professionals working in film/video, interactive media, photography, music and the web! We offer a range of resources that embrace contemporary technology, particularly where it intersects with creative expression …”

So much going on today. I figured out how to post a video directly in the blog, how exciting!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q[/video]

Another project I’ve been working on is getting all the gear together to become a Strobist.  A Strobist is a photographer who uses cheap, lightweight, and portible off camera flash lighting as outlined at the Strobist blogspot.  I’ve learned a lot about lighting from this site, as well as the corresponding Flickr Strobist Group.  The Strobist is currently halfway through a 4 part series on Flickr and how it is changing the face of photography, particularly for the aspiring pro.I signed up for a Flickr account a couple weeks ago, but haven’t gotten around to adding any photos yet.  I’m sure the articles will give me added motivation.

I’m slowly but surely making technology updates here.  I just signed this blog up at Technorati, which is a blog tracking and linking site.  We’ll see if it increases my traffic here at all.  If you read this and are a blogger on Technorati, add me to your favorites please!

I haven’t posted for a couple days for a good reason. I’ve been working my ass off going through all my images and putting together a nice looking portfolio website. Check it out at www.stevezphoto.com.

OK now that the website is done I am going to fill in the blanks on my missed photo days. Here is a pic from Canyonlands down in this cool overhanging cave type place.

April powder days are the best. It’s warm, there are no lift lines, and there are fresh tracks all day long. The digi cam lived even though I was stuffing it in the spray for this portrait of the Burton Fish.

Ski Jam 3 Photo Gallery CLICK HERE

Get ready for the largest photo gallery I’ve ever posted; almost 150 fun shots of the spring ski party of the year at the famous Abasin Beach.

Saturday was epic springtime party action at the Abasin Beach! The 3rd annual Cruiser Ski Jam collided with the Thrift Store Ski Clothing party and I was there to capture it all: crazy costumes, DJs, wanton excess, the Shot-ski, the ski bikes, the Chinese downhill, the Fashion Show … come back Monday for all the pictures!

Here are a couple more playground shots of the boys. I got these shots partially by luck, partially with ninja like timing and reflexes. I would walk by nonchalantly, stick the wide angle lens down to sand level, and fire away in their general direction. Finish off with a liberal dose of cropping and there you go. Travis shows what you get when the child is too engulfed in playland to immediately acknowledge the intrusion. Everett shows the other effect, the ‘what the hell are you doing?’ look! Bonus points for a bored looking Mom in the background! Click the pics for larger shots.

I was hanging out in the hot tub when I spied this mirror ball in the backyard…